Hackathons offer shot at full-speed-ahead innovation

Contests give software developers chance to showcase creativity

October 04, 2010|By Wailin Wong, Tribune reporter

A few computers, 36 hours and a lot of caffeine. Sometimes that's all it takes to launch a technology startup.

Just ask Jordan Fulghum and Jake Lumetta, the co-founders of WinkVid, a Chicago-based company that combines speed dating with live Web video chat. They created the framework for WinkVid in November at a "hackathon," an event in which software developers are given a limited amount of time, typically between 24 and 48 hours, to come up with a working Web site or application from scratch.

While Fulghum had thought about the WinkVid concept before entering the hackathon, the weekend sprint "was an impetus to actually get off the couch and get coding on it," he said. "It's such a great opportunity and way to do it because it's like strapping a rocket to it and saying, 'Let's do this right now.'"

After the hackathon, which was part of a Chicago tech conference called SocialDevCamp, Fulghum and Lumetta continued to refine their Web site at nights and on weekends. WinkVid launched in the spring and recently expanded from its Chicago-only user base to welcome members worldwide.

Hackathons have been a mainstay of technology culture, with little visibility outside of specialized circles. But they're catching on as a fresh way to foster creativity or give developers a dedicated outlet to work on a personal project, and the phenomenon could have benefits for both companies and consumers.

These marathon events also are making their way into the corporate world. Companies hold hackathons for their employees to work on new business ideas, some of which may end up in front of consumers. At Facebook, for example, all-night coding sessions have produced features such as Facebook Chat.

"I think everyone can relate to that experience in college. You write the best term papers the night before it's due," said Peter Morano, co-founder of Hackathonia, a site that helps organize such events. "The idea gets distilled down to its clearest."

Not every hackathon produces concepts that have obvious market value, but that's part of the philosophy. The contests are intended for developers to showcase their creativity or demonstrate a certain kind of technology.

"It's not about the 200-page business plan," said Moshe Tamssot, founder of Chicago-based consulting firm The Innovation Center. "It's about creating a proof of concept, something quick and dirty, that people can get their hands on."

Tamssot entered a hackathon at the second SocialDevCamp in August. His team, which had never worked together, won the "best overall" prize with an iPhone app called CookieBots that allowed users to film anyone making a recipe and annotate the video with further instructions or tips.

Tamssot and his teammate, Conrad Fuhrman, who handled the bulk of the programming, met via the Hackathonia site. Fuhrman ended up sleeping on Tamssot's couch for the weekend, subsisting on "beer, trail mix and apples," said Tamssot.

The team since has expanded CookieBots into CookItFor.Us, an online marketplace that connects amateur and professional cooks with people who love to eat. At midVenturesLAUNCH, a startup conference held last week in Chicago, Tamssot and his colleagues unveiled the new site and handed out homemade cookies. The team, which won a "people's choice" award at the conference, is seeking partnerships with food manufacturers, bloggers and cookbook publishers.

"My mind and heart are full of ideas, but I have limited time," said Tamssot, the son of a nuclear engineer-turned-Italian-restaurateur. "A hackathon does an instant gelling of a new company. It makes it possible to get over that hump."

The organizers of midVenturesLAUNCH also hosted a hackathon as a prelude to the main conference. A few hours into the competition, brothers Min and Lwin Maung, who stayed awake for more than 30 consecutive hours during their last hackathon, had poured a cup of coffee and cracked open two cans of Red Bull.

"The satisfaction we get is we can see how much we can push ourselves within a short time," said Lwin Maung, who heads an IT firm in Northbrook and wanted to pick up software skills outside the scope of his day job.

Geoff Domoracki and Jonathan Pasky, two of the co-founders of midVenturesLAUNCH, said hackathons held during larger conferences can help introduce developers to investors and other members of the tech community in a friendly setting.

At established companies, internal hackathons can be a more interactive brainstorming method for employees. Morano organized one at KeyLimeTie, the Downers Grove-based software development firm where he is chief information officer.

Allstate Corp., one of KeyLimeTie's clients, held a weekend hackathon in July, inviting employees to build a mobile app for the company.

Matt Manzella, director of strategy and innovation services in Allstate's technology organization, said he was hoping for five to eight teams. Instead, 42 teams showed up, and 26 groups made it to the end. Eight finalists received monetary prizes, and Allstate is moving forward with the winning app.

The event was "certainly exciting and different" for employees, Manzella said. "People at all levels have their own ideas, and they're frustrated by their inability to share them in a company, especially one the size of ours. … What are other opportunities? This was a good one because mobile applications are so hot right now, and everyone's given it some thought."